July 4, 2013

cousin marriages and congenital anomalies – Born in Bradford: a new study in the Lancet

Around 17 in every 1,000 babies in England and Wales are born with a congenital anomaly.  These anomalies can result for various reasons, one of which is consanguineous relationships (those between blood relatives).  In the UK, such relationships are most common in migrant Muslim communities.  Bradford has a huge Pakistani community; one in two births in the city is from parents with origins in Pakistan.

The Born in Bradford study collected lifestyle and clinical data from children born with congenital anomalies from both consanguineous and non-consanguineous relationships, and took into account factors such as maternal age and socioeconomic status.  The authors found that cousin marriages were associated with a significant increase in risk of congenital anomalies.  The results are published in a Lancet paper, and the authors came to the SMC to talk about:

• how risky is it to have a child with a cousin?
• what sort of birth defects can result?
• can anything be done to reduce the risk?
• do deprivation and socioeconomic factors increase the risk?
• are these results applicable to elsewhere in the UK?
• should cousin marriages be legal?

Speakers: 

Dr Eamonn Sheridan, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Genetics, University of Leeds and St James’s University Hospital, and lead author of the paper

Professor Neil Small, Professor of Health Research, University of Bradford, and a co-author of the paper